I Believe In Democratic Functioning; Took Bar Into Consultation For New Supreme Court Building : CJI BR Gavai

Chief Justice of India Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai said Today that the upcoming new building of the Supreme Court will have facilities not only for lawyers but also for litigants and specially abled persons. He said that the plans for the building were finalised after taking into consideration the views of the Bar and other stakeholders.

CJI Gavai was speaking at a felicitation function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA). He said that during the planning of the new building, he, along with Justice Suryakant and the former CJI Justice Sanjiv Khanna, had consulted members of the Bar to ensure that the facilities in the new building address their needs. “We took the Bar into consideration, into consultation on the facilities which are to be provided for the Lawyers. So we have provided for all the facilities, not only for the lawyers, but for also the litigants for specially abled, specially challenged persons,” he said.

Recollecting his previous role as chairman of the Infrastructure and Building Committee when he was a judge of the Bombay High Court, CJI Gavai said he had insisted that the President and Secretary of the Bar Association be made part of the building planning committee. “So that the needs of the members of the bar, the needs of the litigants who are coming to the court, including the physically challenged and specially-abled persons are taken into consideration,” he said.

He also recalled how the issue of allotment of chambers in the Supreme Court, which had remained unresolved for nearly five years, was resolved in just two or three meetings held by himself, Justice Suryakant and Justice Maheshwari with the members of the Bar.

CJI Gavai said he had always believed that the Bar and the Bench are equal stakeholders in the institution of administration of justice. “They are like two wheels of a golden chariot of the institution of administration of justice. You stand one wheel and the efficacy of the entire chariot comes to a standstill,” he said.

SCBA President Vikas Singh, who spoke before the CJI, said that for the first time a Chief Justice truly meant it when he said that the Bar is an equal stakeholder. “Up till now many Chief Justices have said that the bar is the equal stakeholder of the institution. But that is mostly lip service. For the first time we have a Chief justice who actually means it,” Singh said. He also said that CJI Gavai had assured him that the SCBA President's office would be as large as that of the CJI, considering that visiting dignitaries meet both.

Singh described this as the “golden period” of the Supreme Court for the Bar. He praised CJI Gavai for standing up to the government when required, referring to the Court's criticism of “bulldozer justice” and judgments on electoral bonds and internet restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir. He also criticised the allocation of a high-security area for a judicial museum that cost ₹20-30 crore without tender, while basic facilities like a Bar library and a proper lunch room remain unavailable.

CJI Gavai, in his speech, said that even before the SCBA's Charter of Demands was submitted during the court vacations, he had acceded to many requests made by the Bar in a meeting held on May 16, two days after he took oath as CJI. He said that he began working on the rest of the demands even before formally meeting the Bar representatives.

He added that the issues were discussed with all the judges and that the decisions were taken collectively. “I must say that all of my colleagues were and also are on the same page insofar as the issues concerning the bar are concerned…And I believe that the Chief Justice is only the first among the equals and the Supreme Court should never be a Chief Justice-centric court. It has to be a court, of all us so it has to be court of the members. And therefore, I believe in a democratic functioning. So whatever decisions we take are the decisions of the Full Court.”

He said that he had appointed Justices PS Narasimha and Justice Chandurkar to engage with the Bar on the demands and that they had already met with the SCBA members. While stating that he would not make any promises, he said, “I can only assure you that we will look at all the demands in a positive manner and we will always consider that the Bar is equal stakeholder”. The report of the committee will be placed before the full court, and he added, “Maybe I will have something to say about all that on 21st of November.”

CJI Gavai also recalled that the Bar had earlier not been allowed to use the Supreme Court auditorium for events, including farewell functions. He narrated an incident when, during Justice Indu Malhotra's farewell, the function was held under a pandal that got flooded due to heavy monsoon. Justice Malhotra had to be shielded with an umbrella, and Justice Nariman, who spoke on behalf of the Court, had to face the rainwater.

He added that when he worked in Bombay, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Goa, the High Court auditoriums were offered to the Bar free of charge, including for lecture series and legal education programmes. “And I saw no reason to deny the members of the (Supreme Court) Bar the same facility,” he said.

Concluding his speech, CJI Gavai thanked the SCBA members for their affection and cooperation over the years. He also acknowledged the cooperation of his colleagues during the recent “partial working days” and said that the Court had recorded the highest number of disposals during that period in many years. “I must say that with the cooperation of all of you and my colleagues, we have had the highest number of disposals during the partial working days in the last so many years.”